Reading

At Thomas Eaton Primary School we believe that reading should be a fundamental part of childhood and a skill which should be developed to support lifelong learning.

Our aim is to develop and embed a strong, sustainable reading culture within the school community. Confident and competent readers will foster a love of reading through a rich and varied experience of texts, in which they are empowered to exercise freedoms of choice and independence.

Inspiring children to read is their fundamental right. It underpins all learning and secures a good trajectory for personal development and an understanding the world in which they live.

We believe that a reading child is a successful child and that:

children deserve a rich curriculum which encourages extensive reading of books and other kinds of texts.
planning enables links across learning, which create a wide range of opportunities in which children can read for pleasure.
children will have the opportunity to experience whole books to support them in their understanding of literary structures and allow them to become absorbed in the story itself.
the active encouragement of reading for pleasure should be a core part of every child’s educational entitlement, whatever their background or attainment. Extensive reading and exposure to a wide range of texts make a huge contribution to students’ educational achievement.
children will be encouraged to read texts which reflect their own heritage and that of other cultural groups.
all children should have access to a wide range of texts in different formats and genres and support in enjoying them where necessary.
the school will engage and support parents in enabling access to a full range of reading experiences.
school reading should not only be seen as synonymous with attainment and judgement as this could influence children’s perceptions of books and reading.
professional development and support for teachers will be provided to allow them to explore the huge range of printed reading materials available and to enable them to support children in their reading choices.

The school has a commitment to evaluate the outcomes of this ‘Reading for Pleasure’ statement and continually review practice to ensure all children become lifelong readers.

How we teach reading

We use a range of strategies to teach reading. These include:

Guided Reading: In Early Years and Key Stage 1, this occurs as an addition to our daily phonics teaching. Children read in a group matched to their reading ability.
Whole class reading in Key Stage 2 based on our CUSP curriculum. Sessions focus on core skills including literal retrieval, inference, vocabulary/meaning and choice.
Individual reading – younger children have frequent opportunities to read independently with an adult to practise phonic skills as well as fluency and comprehension.
Daily reading time – Class novels, non-fiction books, poems, newspapers.
Shared reading – whole class, modelled by the teacher with a focus on reading for pleasure.
Book Talk during story assemblies.
Story telling, particularly in Early Years where children are immersed in high quality texts to engage and delight. Children have ample opportunities to role-play, retell and reinact shared stories.

For support with reading at home, please refer to the following link which explains how you can share a book together and develop your child's life long love of reading

Engaging parents - Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)